Oil plumbs new lows below $27 in unrelenting rout
Source: Reuters
Markets | Wed Jan 20, 2016 2:58pm EST
Oil plumbs new lows below $27 in unrelenting rout
NEW YORK
U.S. oil prices crashed below $27 dollars a barrel on Wednesday for the first time since 2003, caught in a broad slump across world financial markets with traders also fearful that the crude supply glut could last longer.
Oil prices have slid more than 25 percent so far this year, piling more pain on oil drillers and producing nations alike, yet they keep pumping more oil into an oversupplied market.
U.S. crude for February delivery, which expires at the end of the day, slid $2.05, or 7.2 percent to $26.41 at 2:05 p.m. EST (1902 GMT).
Brent futures for March delivery fell 98 cents, or 3.3 percent to $27.80 a barrel. It touched a new contract low of $27.10.
The International Energy Agency warned that the world could "drown in oversupply" of oil in 2016, with the lifting of western sanctions against Iran allowing that country to add its exports to the global glut.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKCN0UY04U